Lena could see Theresa’s logic but, as Daniel’s wife, she also knew how much he loved his brother, and how people’s words could wound him. He idolised Peter, and Peter idolised him. True, they were as different as chalk and cheese personality-wise. But together they were a formidable team.

‘You feel it too, don’t you, Lena? It’s like one of those humid and stormy summer days when you could cut the air with a knife. Something’s going on with the boys and, as always, we will be the last to know what it is.’

Lena nodded. She wondered sometimes if her mother-in-law was fey; she often knew exactly what you were thinking. Unlike her mother-in-law, though, Lena preferred not to know too much about her husband’s business dealings – as far as she was concerned, ignorance was bliss.

Chapter Three

Jed Lanson looked at his nephew, a boy he had never really found it in his heart to like. He was too much like his mother. Jed’s sister Adelaide was a miserable fucking bitch and, like her son, she took the piss at every opportunity. All animosity aside, though, this was a fucking liberty, and it was something not to be taken lightly. Jed was an acknowledged Face; this was clearly the work of someone who wanted to challenge him. And he had a good idea who that might be.

The fucking Baileys. The trouble was, deep down, he liked them, respected them inasmuch as they were decent men. Peter, certainly, was a man of his word, and he was also a good earner. Daniel, on the other hand, was a hothead; it was Daniel who would have done this, he was the drama merchant. Jed had used that very quality many times himself, and paid Daniel Bailey handsomely because of it. He was like the BBC. All drama, but no real substance. But he knew that Daniel and Peter wanted a bit more, and why wouldn’t they?

If his idiot of a nephew had not felt the urge to berate them, humiliate them and, in short, fucking aggravate them, Jed would have offered them an in sooner rather than later. Now it would have to be a fucking lesson – he would have to make sure that everyone knew he would not countenance any kind of insubordination. He would have to go after two of his best earners over this useless boy, who couldn’t find a golden fiver without a detailed map and a candle shoved up his arse! It was so unfair. But Micky was family, and if Jed swallowed this he would lose all face.

‘Sling him in a motor and get him to hospital. He’s had a battering, but he’ll get over it. If the Baileys wanted him dead, I think we can safely assume that would be the case.’